Java Examples in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: networking example, border layout, simple web browser, Graphical User Interfaces Example, Graphics Example, Exercises Exercise (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This essential, learn-as-you-go tutorial invites new and seasoned Java developers to let go of worries about the complexity and sophistication of Java and simply jump in and try effective new programming techniques and code. It's a very good place to start if you're thinking of trying something new." Industrial Networking & Open Contol, April 2004 "This is not, perhaps, for the gnarled old 'sandals and beard' developer at the back of the office, but if you're a junior developer, or perhaps a highly experienced developer moving into Java for the first time, you won't find much better reading, and doing, than this." - Davey Winder, PC Plus, Nov (Rating 9/10)

Product Description

The author of the best-selling Java in a Nutshell has created an entire book of real-world Java programming examples that you can learn from. If you learn best "by example," this is the book for you.

This third edition covers Java 1.4 and contains 193 complete, practical examples: over 21,900 lines of densely commented, professionally written Java code, covering 20 distinct client-side and server-side APIs. It includes new chapters on the Java Sound API and the New I/O API. The chapters on XML and servlets have been rewritten to cover the latest versions of the specifications and to demonstrate best practices for Java 1.4. New and updated examples throughout the book demonstrate many other new Java features and APIs.

Java Examples in a Nutshell is a companion volume to Java in a Nutshell, Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell, and Java Enterprise in a Nutshell. It picks up where those quick references leave off, providing a wealth of examples for both novices and experts. This book doesn’t hold your hand; it simply delivers well-commented working examples with succinct explanations to help you learn and explore Java and its APIs.

Java Examples in a Nutshell contains examples that demonstrate:

· Core APIs, including I/O, New I/O, threads, networking, security, serialization, and reflection

· Desktop APIs, highlighting Swing GUIs, Java 2D graphics, preferences, printing, drag-and-drop, JavaBeans, applets, and sound

· Enterprise APIs, including JDBC (database access), JAXP (XML parsing and transformation), Servlets 2.4, JSP 2.0 (JavaServer Pages), and RMI

The book begins with introductory examples demonstrating structured and object-oriented programming techniques for new Java programmers. A special index at the end of the book makes it easy to look up examples that use a particular Java class or accomplish a desired task. In between, each chapter includes exercises that challenge readers and suggest further avenues for exploration.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 3rd edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006209
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006204
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #162,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for core Java API - J2EE section weak, March 21, 2004

By	Vinit Carpenter "j2eegeek.com/blog" (Brookfield, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this 3rd edition, author David Flanagan has updated the book with coverage of Java 1.4. In keeping with the tradition of the other nutshell books, this book is an instant must-have book. This book is divided into 4 sections. The first section is a short yet very nice Java and OO tutorial. This book is not meant to replace your regular tutorial book, but can certainly act as that for someone who already knows the basics and is trying to bone up on the language API and usage.

The second section of the book covers the core Java API, including I/O, NIO, threads, networking, security and cryptography, serialization, and reflection. This section of the book is really solid and includes great working and commented examples of most of the core set of Java API. I really liked the network section as it includes code that will fulfill most of your needs in terms of network related development.

The third section of the book deals with graphics and user-interface including Swing, Java 2D graphics, preferences, printing, drag-and-drop, JavaBeans, applets, and sound. Not being much of a UI guy, I glossed over most of this section but it seemed complete and comprehensive. I know where I am going to turn if I ever need to work with Swing or applets.

The last section of the book includes coverage of the server-side Java or J2EE development, including JDBC, JAXP (XML parsing and transformation), Servlets 2.4, JSP 2.0, and RMI. Being a back-end or server side developer, I spent a lot of time consuming this section and I was very impressed with the quality of the coverage, explanation and examples included in this section. The section starts off with a nice introduction to JDBC, database metadata and includes some nice examples configurable example that are ready for use with little or no modifications. I think that's important to new developers that are getting familiar with an API. In reading the code, it was nice to see the author using the execute() method instead of executeUpdate() or executeQuery() method along with a simple explanation of why he is doing that. Sounds simple, but I can't tell you the number of times junior developers have come to me and asked me about this exact topic.

After JDBC, the book jumps into XML with a nice intro to SAX, DOM, and XSLT. Not a lot of meat here, but XML is always a moving target in terms of the API. I wish this section had a little more to it as it is missing the whole idea of Java-XML data binding which is a useful topic. After XML, the book moves over to Servlets and JSP. Nice intro to servlets and JSP, but leaves you wanting more. I think the whole server-side Java just needs to be another book and I think David should just come up with a Java Enterprise Examples in a nutshell. O'Reilly already has some great books in this category including the Java Servlet and JSP cookbook.

Having said all that, I still really like this book for how it deals with the core API. This book contains 193 complete, documented examples which makes it a must for any junior developer that knows or is learning Java and wants to know how to apply the API. The examples from this book are available for download from the author's website located at davidflanagan dot com.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-buy book for your Java library, March 13, 2004

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Target Audience
Java developers who are looking for working examples of code that illustrate specific concepts.

Contents
This book is a companion volume to the Java/Java Enterprise/Java Foundation Classes In A Nutshell books. It provides code examples for many of the classes used in those books.

The book contains the following chapters:

Part 1 - Learning Java - Java Basics; Objects, Classes, and Interfaces

Part 2 - Core Java APIs - Input/Output; Threads; Networking; New I/O; Security And Crytography; Internationalization; Reflection; Object Serialization

Part 3 - Desktop Java APIs - Graphical User Interfaces; Graphics; Printing; Data Transfer; JavaBeans; Applets; Sound

Part 4 - Enterprise Java APIs - Database Access With SQL; XML; Servlets and JavaServer Pages; Remote Method Invocation; Example Index

Review
Often when you are learning Java or exploring a new aspect of the language, it's difficult to make the bridge from the raw documentation to working code. The O'Reilly "Examples In A Nutshell" series is designed to make that transition from theoretical to practical, and David Flanagan's Java Examples In A Nutshell is no exception. It should be an essential part of your personal library if you are a Java professional.

Rather than spend time teaching the reader a particular class, the book assumes that you have one of the other Java Nutshell books for all the details of the class. In this volume, Flanagan jumps right into complete, well-documented examples of code that use those classes, thereby giving you a feel for how they work. Because he documents his code better than most of us do, there isn't that waste of time trying to figure out what the coder intended. The examples are easy to follow, and they are definitely helpful when you are working through the details of an unfamiliar class or concept. I often find myself looking through the chapters when I'm coding just to get a glance at how someone else would code a solution. It's almost like having a partner to bounce ideas off of.

In this latest edition, the author covers some of the new features in Java 1.4 like the New I/O and Sound APIs. Personally, I probably wouldn't do much with the sound code, but the New I/O section will be useful. He also covers the regular expression features which are new in the New I/O API. While I would also want documentation on regular expressions since I'm not a Perl expert, these examples will help me when I get to the point I need to use them.

Conclusion
Quite simply, this should be a "must buy" for your Java library. This book bridges the gap between reference material and your actual coding better than any other book of its kind.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant, June 26, 2004

By A Customer

This is an excellent book covering Java 1.4 with practical examples. The book is divided into four parts: Learning Java, Core Java APIs, Desktop Java APIs, and Enterprise Java APIs. The book is very succinct and to right to the point with its examples. Each chapter starts off with a one to three page introduction of the topic, before heading into the examples. Each chapter introduction gives a high-level overview and history of the need for that API.

The examples are well written and complete. You don't have to search back for prior examples to understand the code. Before each example is an explanation of what the example is trying to do and the concepts it will demonstrate. The comments in the code fully explain why the author is doing something or choosing a particular API method. This book is good for someone who understands the language, but is trying to learn some new APIs. One of the best chapters is the chapter on threads, because it has just about everything you would need to understand about threads to use Java.

This book is a valuable reference. I am sure that I could use this book to understand an API that I have never used before (2D graphics, javax.sound, etc.) by just reading the examples and explanations that accompany them.